Fowl Manor
by The Threat
Summary: After the events of my earlier story, 'Mondas', our heroes find themselves in a new, and possibly stranger world.
1. Chapter 1

Darkness. Nothing else. No room, no wall, no furniture, or anything. Just complete and total darkness. I tried to smell, but nothing came. I listened for sound, but nothing came to my ears. Did I die? Almost as soon as that thought came to me, I could feel a hand press to my chest. Specifically there, as I didn't feel anything else elsewhere in my body. A few seconds later, I started feeling more in the rest of my body. Even my ears started hearing again.  
"... ing to be all right?" I heard something that sounded like a squeaky voice.  
"As all right as anyone can be in a mudman's house." another voice sounded. This voice, while also squeaky, sounded more serious.  
"That's funny, coming from you." a heavier voice said.  
What sort of world did I end up in this time, I wondered. Besides that, how did I end up in this one? Last thing I remembered, was that we entered a portal, which didn't look as solid as others. We went through it and... if I couldn't feel, see, hear or smell anything until these squeaky people did something, what did this mean for my friends? Were they still alive? Are they wounded in any way? I had to know for sure. I tried getting up and...

"...edding." I could only just hear someone say.  
"Be that as it may, Butler." came the reply, from someone who sounded younger, "Our guests crashed onto my property. What kind of land-owner would I be if I ignored them?"  
"Is that really the only reason why you're helping them?" the older voice asked, the voice that belonged to someone that was called Butler.  
"You know me better than that." the younger one said, "I must admit they are intriguing."  
"Because they fell from the sky?"  
"More than that." he spoke with such a tone, he was beginning to scare me, "One of them is dressed in what resembles modern apparel, but its materials are typically medieval."  
"Do you think he's a time-traveler?" Butler asked.  
"I'm not ruling out the possibility." the younger one replied, "But he's the least of our worries."  
"Why is that?"  
"That young Asian woman." the younger voice said, "For reasons I cannot fathom, her cells seemed to be decaying much faster than they should. It's almost as though she had found a way to halt her own aging process, but whatever halted it is gone now."  
I became more and more interested in what this younger man was saying. I found out a lot about my two companions. But as soon as I heard him say that one of my friends was getting older every second, I realized she was in trouble. With everything she had done for me and my other two friends, I couldn't just let her die like that. I had to do something. Though my body still wanted to sleep, I forced myself to get up. As I did, I heard heavy steps run toward me. Hands were placed on my shoulder and my arm.  
"Take it easy." I recognized Butler's voice, "It takes a while before the body has fully recovered."  
I could finally open my eyes. I looked at the man who was helping me. All I saw was a black tie, in front of a white shirt. I blinked a few times, then decided to look up. I couldn't be sure of what I was looking at, a man, or a tower. Either way, it took me a while before I could find his head.  
"It never seizes to amaze me how people react at their first sight of you." that younger voice spoke again.  
I turned my head into his direction. There was a boy, a little shorter than me, but dressed in a black suit, wearing dark glasses. Since he was had flowers sticking out of his jacket pocket, I guessed this was a wedding-suit. Was he getting married, or was he just the best man?  
"Do not worry. He won't harm you." the younger man said, "Unless I tell him to."  
Since he was helping me, I didn't think that was true. And even if it was, if he knew what I had seen before my arrival here, he would know he was hardly scary. Unless..."  
"Now, would you be so kind to tell me who you are?" the young man asked.  
I opened my mouth, but no sound would come out. I knew I had to somehow make sounds with my throat, but I couldn't.  
"He fell from the sky. Do you think he would know our language?"  
"He understood me very well when I was talking about his friends." the young man said, "I could see his reaction when I said his friend was dying."  
This reminded me. I shifted my head from side to side, only to see that there was nobody else in the room. There were just me, Butler, this younger man, and one bed.  
"Concerned for your friends?" he asked.  
"He may be more cooperative if he got to see them, Master Fowl."  
He, who seems to be called Fowl, thought about this: "You may be right. Escort him to see the others."  
"Yes, Master Fowl." Butler replied.

Following his master's order, Butler escorted me out of the room. The hallway didn't look like that of any hospital I've ever seen. It didn't have the typical smell, or even that look. It looked more dusty, dark, and not at all well-looked after. It seemed like I was down somebody's basement instead of a hospital. In any case, Butler lead me into the next room. It looked the same as the one I was in. Dusty and dark, with only one bed. This is where I found one of friends, the young wizard named Merlin.  
As soon as we entered, he got out of his bed: "You're alright!"  
Butler jumped in front of me, trying to stop Merlin from running to me: "Don't get any ideas."  
"Oh, there must be a misunderstanding." Merlin said. I could never understand how he could keep laughing all the time.  
"My master doesn't want you to leave." Butler said, "At least, not until you've answered some questions for him."  
"Is that all?" Merlin said, "I'd be happy to do so."  
Butler didn't say anything. I couldn't take a look at his face, so I had no way of knowing what he might have thought.  
"Something wrong?" Merlin asked.  
"Do you have any idea of whose property you crashed into?"  
"We never do." Merlin replied, "We just walk into a portal, and hope for the best."  
"Portal?" Butler seemed to be out of the loop on this.  
"Speaking of which, where are Saya and Murphy?" Merlin asked.  
"Who?" Butler didn't know those names.  
"The two others who were with us." Merlin answered, "One looks like a little girl with a sword. The other is more machine than man."  
"I don't know about a machine-man." Butler answered, "Though most of the machinery we found on and near you are looked after by Foaly."  
Most of the machinery? As soon as that question came to me, I searched my pockets.  
"Does that include his portal-machine?" Merlin asked Butler.  
There was a pause before Butler asked: "Do you people ever say anything sensible?"  
"Well, if so, then you need not worry." Merlin spoke directly to me, "At least this time we know it's in good hands."  
I looked at him, squinting my eyes.  
"He may be a giant, but he seems harmless." Merlin replied, "So any friend of his, is a friend of ours."  
"How naive." this was Fowl's voice.  
I turned to look at the door, and there he stood. With that tone he used, I expected him to have his arms crossed, but instead they were hanging beside his body. It's like if he was angry or frustrated, he would die before showing it.  
"Oh hello." Merlin said to him. He made to walk closer to him, but Butler stopped him.  
"Are you this giant's master?" Merlin asked him.  
Fowl raised an eyebrow: "Have you never heard of Artemis Fowl II?"  
"No. Who is he?" Merlin replied.  
As they went on, I realized they were just bantering, while Saya was still in trouble. I tried telling them, but the words just wouldn't come out. With no way of drawing their attention, I had to find myself a way to Saya. Since Fowl was talking to Merlin, and Butler was busy keeping Merlin at a distance, paying no attention to me, and the only one blocking the door is someone who was smaller than me, the solution looked obvious. I ran to the door. Fowl opened his mouth, but I pushed him out of my way before he could say anything. I heard Butler scream something after me, but I paid no attention.


	2. Chapter 2

In the next room, I found an old lady, lying on a bed, with two people watching over her. Even though I was looking for Saya, seeing them almost made me forget what I was doing. The two looked like grown-ups, but they weren't any taller than me. I dare even say they were half my size. Their skin colors weren't of any variety I ever saw, their ears were larger (and pointier), and their clothes, while they looked like the type you'd use to fight, they didn't look like any suit I ever saw soldiers or policemen wear. Were they even human?  
"Hey, aren't you supposed to sleep?" one of them asked, and I recognized her voice, as she was one of squeaky ones I heard before.  
"Never mind that." the other one said, whose voice I also recognized, "Maybe he can help us. Do you know what's wrong with your friend?"  
My friend? What was he talking about? But as I looked closer at the old woman, I noticed the clothes she was wearing. They looked like that sailor-outfit that Saya always wore. Didn't Fowl say she was aging rapidly? I ran to her as fast as I could, but once I arrived, I had no idea about what I should be doing. I couldn't talk to her, since I had forgotten how to do that. Her shoulder, I remembered. She was shot by one of those guards in the last world we were in. Is that somehow causing this? I looked at her shoulder, but found nothing wrong.  
"We healed her shoulder hours ago." the man said, "But we can't stop her from getting older."  
"Why are you speaking elfish to him?" I recognized Fowl's voice.  
"We would speak his language." the woman answered, "But he hasn't replied to anything we've said, so we don't know what language we should be speaking to him."  
They were speaking a different language to me the whole time? Why didn't I realize? And why should I care about that?  
"Is that Saya?" Merlin asked, at almost the same time as when I realized I had more important things to think about.  
"So our female visitor has a name at last." Fowl said.  
"Did you forget what that young man just did to you, Master Fowl?" Butler asked him.  
"He was concerned for his friend." Fowl replied, "I can't fault him for that."  
"Fowl?" Merlin questioned, "Are you related to that Artemis fellow you mentioned before?"  
I turned away from Saya to look at them. Since Fowl was still wearing his sunglasses, I could see his full face, but I imagined he didn't really like what Merlin just asked, judging from his reply: "I AM Artemis."  
"Oh, nice to meet you." Merlin said, "I'm Merlin."  
From Fowl's raised brows, I could tell he didn't believe him: "That wasn't a jest. I really am Artemis Fowl II."  
"Yes, I believe you." Merlin told him.  
"Do you honestly expect me to believe you are thé Merlin?"  
"Well, I don't know about "thé", but Merlin is my name."  
Thé Merlin? Did he know anyone else by that name? Or was Merlin more well-known than even he thought? Whatever, they were taking up too much time, so I knocked on the wall nearest to me, drawing their attention.  
"But more to the point." Merlin said, almost as a reaction to my knocking, "What have you done to Saya?"  
"What have I done?" Fowl replied, "We found her with a wounded shoulder, and half of her hairs already gray. We rushed her, and the two of you here, where I had some of my guests heal you. But nothing we do to your friend seems to help."  
"She couldn't be under one of my spells?" Merlin asked, more to himself than anyone.  
Fowl clicked with his tongue before he spoke: "One of your spells."  
"I have had to use an aging spell several times before, to make myself look older than I am." Merlin explained, "But of course, only when a wizard like me uses it can it be controlled. I don't know what it does to non-magical people."  
"And why would she use this spell?" Fowl asked.  
Before Merlin could give any sort of answer, I heard Saya mumble something. I turned to her.  
"Is she saying something?" Merlin asked.  
I heard two sets of footsteps run toward us, but one of them stopped, which was followed by a heavier voice, that of Butler's: "It may be best to keep a distance."  
When Merlin arrived, he too tried listening to what Saya was saying.  
"B... bl... od..." she whispered.  
"Did she say blood?"  
"We tried that already." one of the squeaky ones said, "It just evaporated when it entered her bleadstream, and if anything only made it worse."  
"Maybe there's a specific way in which she has to take it in." Merlin suggested, "Or maybe it's part of a ritual."  
"Ritual?" Fowl asked, though it didn't sound like he believed it.  
"Maybe something like this has happened to her before." Merlin suggested, "So of course she'd know better than us how to help herself."  
"Very well. Butler, we better see if we can find any blood." Fowl said to his giant.  
This was followed by Butler whispering something to Fowl, but I couldn't hear what it was.  
"Merlin, if that is indeed your name." he continued, "You better come along."  
"Of course." Merlin said, "I'd love to see the rest of this castle."  
And so he walked out of the room, along with Fowl and Butler, leaving me alone with two other beings, and a still aging Saya.  
"What do you suppose it is?" one of them asked.  
"If it's something that even we with all our magic can't cure, I'm not sure I even want to know."  
Magic? Like Merlin? He might be interested in hearing about this. But almost as soon as I thought this, there came a crackling sound. I looked at the two, who were suddenly pressing their hands (one each) to their ears.  
"What is it, Major Short?" the woman replied, waited for an answer, "I don't know, I haven't made any contact with them. Why?"  
Whatever the answer was, it caused the man to say: "That is weird indeed."  
Whatever was said on the other side, it made the two of them look at Saya and me.  
"I don't know." the man said, "The woman hasn't been doing anything. She could barely say a word before."  
"And the other one looks far too busy thinking about his friend, I don't think he has had the time to set anything like that up."  
They waited for another reply from... Short? If he was one of these people, than the name fits.  
"Acknowledged." they both said, and walked out of the room.  
And so, I was alone in the room with Saya, who had somehow grown to be much older within the last few minutes. It surprised me she hadn't already become dust. But as soon as that surprise came, I noticed something else. Her lips were moving. They weren't saying anything, or at least they didn't form any words I knew, so I leaned in closer, hoping that I might hear her better. As I leaned closer, her breathing became clearer. So she was trying to say something. As I got closer, I could make her words out better.  
"...ser."  
"...oser."  
"...closer."  
She was telling me to come closer? Why would she do that? Wanting to know the answer, I leaned in as close as I could. When I could feel her breath on my neck, I thought this had to be close enough. As I listened for what she wanted to tell me, I soon found out she had nothing to say at all. What felt like a dozen needles just sank themselves into my neck. It came as such a surprise, I didn't even scream just from the pain. But soon enough, whatever she was doing, it caused the blood in my body to light up like fire. My instinct to scream was coming back to me. As I was about to open my throat up, I saw Saya raising her hand. Within a split second, I saw her long nails growing shorter, and her wrinkles lessening before my eyes. This suddenly younger hand grabbed hold of my lips, keeping me from making any sort of sound. My hands were looking for something to hold on to, while the pain of what she was doing to me was still going through my entire body. Eventually, I couldn't take any more of it. The wall before me disappeared, the hand that held my lips together faded away, and I...


	3. Chapter 3

"...st you?" I barely managed to hear. A new voice  
"We've been traveling together for such a long time." I recognized Merlin's voice, "She never did this before."  
"As far as you know." it was another squeaky voice, but it wasn't one I had heard before. This one, while it sounded like a woman, it sounded heavier, a bossy type.  
"At least she didn't kill him." Merlin reasoned with him.  
"Only because my subordinates intervened." was the reply.  
"Why are you so quick to judge her?" Merlin asked.  
"We've come across her type before." the voice replied, "Seventeen years ago."  
"Seventeen years?"  
"By one bite, they'd turn others into one of their own. And when they are, they're not themselves anymore."  
"That sounds a lot like what Smith's Army does." Merlin spoke.  
"Smith?" the bossy woman questioned.  
"He's an... entity, that invades people." Merlin explained, "Changing them... reprogramming, I think they called it. Turning them into something and someone they're not."  
"Which is exactly what vampires do." the bossy woman replied.  
"But Saya is nothing like that." Merlin continued, "She's been fighting that army for as long as I've known her."  
"So you keep saying but..." the woman stopped mid-sentence, "Hold on. What is it Foaly?"  
"Foaly? Who are you talking to?"  
Clearly, Merlin had never heard of radios before, and therefor didn't know how anyone could talk to someone that (as far as he could see) wasn't there.  
"How can you be so sure?" she asked, "Merlin just explained to me..."  
There was another pause, upon which she said: "You better be right about that... Don't push your luck!"  
"What was that about?" Merlin asked her.  
"I just spoke to our tech-wizard." the woman said, "He has thoroughly examined your robot friend."  
"Murphy?" Merlin knew exactly who she was talking about, "Is he alright?"  
"Considering he was at a quarter capacity when we found him, yes." the woman replied, "What you told me seemed consistent with a virus. Something of which Foaly didn't find any trace of in Officer Murphy. On top of that, he apparently knows your vampire-friend longer than you, and has confirmed everything you just told me."  
"That's good, isn't it?" Merlin wondered.  
"I wish." there seemed to be no way to satisfy this woman, "It still doesn't explain why several people have gone off the grid."  
"Off the grid? What does that mean?"  
"In case it escaped your notice, there was a wedding going on here, just when you crashed." the woman explained, "There were many guests, and double as many guards. But several of them have been disappearing."  
"They have?"  
"You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" the woman asked, "It started at about the same time we found you."  
"Why accuse us of this?" Merlin asked her, "What if there's someone here they're targeting."  
I couldn't be sure, but the woman sounded like she was snickering. I opened my eyes just to see that.  
"It's true, the master of the house has a lot of enemies." the woman admitted, "But he uses what he would call state-of-the-art security measures to halt any attempt on his life. Measures that are backed up by my people's technology."  
"Well then?"  
"But whoever's doing this, seems to know its way around all those measures." the woman further explained, "I cannot imagine Artemis sharing those secrets with anyone. At least, not if it meant exposing himself to any danger. And my people owe a lot to him, so none would want to kill him either."  
Merlin had no answer at the ready. As he tried to think of an answer, he spotted me: "You're awake!"  
He was about to run to me, but the woman, though half Merlin's size, could easily stop him from getting near me, simply by stepping on his foot and punching him in the stomach.  
"Not just yet." she said, upon which she approached me herself.  
I got a better look at her this time. Much like the other two I saw, she too had a strange skin and pointed ears. She also wore a combat suit, but for some strange reason, her hair was styled for some kind of special occasion, and she wore a lot of make-up.  
"Hello, mudboy." she said, "I'm Major Holly Short."  
That was Major Short? I was right to think that the name might fit, but... a woman?  
"Can you tell me what happened?"  
"Don't... bother..." Merlin only just managed to say.  
"I'm not talking to you!" she snapped at him, then turned back to me, "Can you?"  
I tried thinking back about the last thing I remembered. Saya asked me to come closer, then did something to my neck. Remembering that, I touched that very spot, trying to feel what she had done.  
"Don't worry about that." Short said, "We've very good at healing."  
"Can you also heal his voice?" Merlin asked, suddenly recovered from the blow he received.  
Short looked at him: "There's nothing wrong with his voice."  
"Are you sure?"  
"If there was, my magic would have picked it up." she explained.  
"Then I fear he can't tell you much." Merlin said, "He can't speak."  
Short sighed: "Terrific. I have people disappearing, and only a malfunctioning robot, a vampire, a naive boy and a mute as my only leads."  
"Fly up!" Merlin exclaimed, and suddenly Short started floating up.  
"Hey!" she screamed, "Let go of me!"  
"Back on my home world, I had to hide who I was." Merlin said, "So I just swallowed their insults. But since magic is commonplace here, I thought you might want to know I'm not that naive."  
"No?" Short questioned.  
From behind her, what looked like two veils appeared. Both of which were transparent, and started flapping, like the wings of a bird. With this, she broke loose from Merlin's grasp and flew toward him. Merlin shouted "Deflect!" and Short somehow turned left, causing her to scream words of confusion, just before she crashed into the wall behind Merlin.  
"Are you done playing games?" that was Saya's voice... who was suddenly standing in the door to this room.  
Without thinking at all, I jumped off my bed and ran to the other side, bringing as much distance between me and Saya as possible.  
"Don't be frightened." she told me, "If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead now."  
She still hurt me, so of course that didn't calm me down at all.  
"If I waited for Fowl and his dumb-force to feed me, I'd have been long gone." she further explained, "Try and think of this as saving my life."  
Saving her life... It did trigger a thought. Before I met her or Merlin, I had met others who died while trying to save my life. It somehow didn't seem fair at the time, and it still doesn't. It made me feel even more horrible when Merlin and Saya would risk their lives to save mine. Maybe this was the best way in which I could repay that debt. My breathing calmed down as that thought started to come to me.  
"All right." Short spoke, "So you can do magic."  
"I wouldn't be too sure." Saya said, "Last world we were in, he couldn't use any of it."  
"But magic is all around here." Merlin explained, "So that shouldn't be a problem."  
I could see the reluctance in Short's body language. Like she was tense one moment, but relaxed the next, though her bare teeth and squinted eyes told me she was still uncomfortable.  
"At least now I know where I stand with you two." she finally spoke, "What about him?"  
She pointed at me before continuing: "Will he be any trouble?"  
"He won't." Saya answered, "I'll make sure of it."  
I could feel my heart beating in my throat again.


	4. Chapter 4

The four of us left the room. Short, immediately gave us directions to somewhere: "If you go up those stairs, you'll find the main foyer. There you take the stairs up and..."  
"Hang on, why are you giving us directions?" Merlin asked her.  
"I'm telling you where you can find Artemis." Short answered.  
"And why would we want to find him?" Saya asked her.  
"Because I'll be too busy taking care of my people." Short explained, "Someone needs to watch over him."  
Merlin snickered: "Have you seen that troll? Surely he should be enough."  
"I wish I could know for sure." Short replied, "At least when he killed a troll, we knew what he was up against. Here, I still don't..."  
She heard something in her ear, to which she replied instead: "What's going on over there?"  
The look she had on her face just then described exactly what I was feeling. Those wide eyes, her open mouth and raised brows, like she was just as scared and unsure about everything as we were.  
"What happened?" Saya asked her.  
"Something happened to the East Wing guards." Short explained, just before she spread her wings and flew away.  
"Hey wait for us!" Merlin called after her.

We ran after Short, following her all the way to the East Wing. Only seconds after we entered that Wing, we found what was causing all the problems. In the hallway, stood a group of five men. Each of them were dressed in black suits, each of which seemed to be made up of all sort of weird machines, like they were machines themselves. Their heads were plain white, but were also covered with machines, like one electronic eye instead of a real eye, and an antenna instead of an ear. Even their hands, while one looked normal, the other wasn't holding a gun, it actually was a gun. These five men, were each carrying what looked like more of Short's people.  
"Put them down!" Short shouted at them as she raised her guns.  
The five men walked on, as if they didn't even notice her shouting at them.  
"Put them down or I'll shoot!" she shouted, but they paid no attention to her.  
Short fired her guns at them, and she took two down, with one shot each.  
"Nice shot!" Merlin congratulated her.  
With two of these men down, the other three turned around. Short fired at them. This time, a sort of energy-screen appeared before them, stopping her bullets from hitting them.  
"Darvit!" Short cursed, "They have protective shields!"  
Saya took a few steps closer, while her hands went to her left side, grasping at... nothing!  
Saya groaned: "Why does everyone always have to take my sword away?"  
"Let me try." Merlin said.  
Short brought her hand to her ear, which told me she heard something being said there. She raised her hand at Merlin, but he already cried "BURN INSIDE!"  
With that, the remaining three men appeared to shake, like there was something inside them trying to get out. But instead of "it" bursting out, they fell down, completely motionless.  
"There. That should do it." Merlin smiled.  
"You really shouldn't have done that." Short snarled at him.  
"Why not?" he asked.  
Before she could answer, one of the people that these men were carrying started moaning.  
"Go see Artemis." Short ordered us, "I have my people to take care of."  
The three of us looked at each other. We all had the same thoughts. Not just did we wonder what those things were, but we all wanted to know why Short was so angry all of a sudden, and why Fowl would have any sort of explanation.


	5. Chapter 5

We followed Short's instructions on getting to where Fowl was. It was a room that was one level above us. But as we arrived, we heard he was talking to Butler. Saya stopped us both from going on any further. Merlin was about to say something, but Saya pressed her hand on his mouth before he could. With that, we listened in on what they were saying.  
"Your family is safe." Butler said, "You know that."  
"I know." was the reply, "I put them to sleep myself, while the People froze time."  
"And I can't thank you enough for doing the same to my sister." Butler said.  
"But that's not what I'm worried about." Fowl continued, uninterrupted.  
"You fear for the bride." Butler realized.  
"Normally I'd ask if it's that obvious." Fowl replied.  
What sounded like a chuckle came from Butler: "Normal is a word you stopped using ever since you decided to kidnap an elf."  
I could tell that Merlin was shocked to hear that. He must have realized just as I did why Fowl was so surprised that we didn't know who he was, and why we should know it.  
"And the world only became stranger and stranger ever since." Fowl added, "It makes a wedding seem like the most normal thing I've done in ages. Of course I'm worried it would end tragically."  
"She is doing exactly what is expected of her." Butler told him, "Knowing her, she would be in a worse mood if she didn't. It would ruin the wedding before it officially started.  
"Uh-hum!" someone coughed, "Will you two be done brooding by the time your guests arrive?"  
"Someone needs to teach you the concept of privacy, Foaly." Fowl replied.  
Saya looked at Merlin. She raised her hand, as if to say "Shall we?" and Merlin nodded. With that, the three of us walked into the room.  
I wasn't sure of what I was looking at. The room had no lights, at least none that were switched on. The only light that was visible came from the screens, of which there were a lot. When I looked at them, all I saw was static. Why would Fowl be watching static? Only two screens were functioning. One was a computer screen, which had a picture of some mansion on it, while the other showed a man, wearing a tuxedo suit as well.  
"Oh, there they are." the man on the screen said.  
Both Fowl and Butler (who stood towering over Fowl) turned to look at us.  
"So that's Foaly?" Merlin asked, "Nice to finally see you."  
"Is Murphy with you?" Saya asked him.  
"Certainly!" he replied, "He's right here."  
Foaly walked away from the screen and... I couldn't believe what I saw. His uper body was that of a man, but his legs were replaced with the entire body of a horse (minus its head).  
"Nice! A centaur!" Merlin was more enthused by this than I was.  
"Flattery won't get you anywhere." Foaly replied.  
Saya, however looked beyond that: "Murphy?"  
I saw him then, too. He was somewhere in the background, hooked onto some wires, which almost him seem like he was part of the machines that were in the room. Which was probably why I didn't notice him at first.  
"Good evening, Saya." Murphy replied, "I see they've let you out after all."  
"When will you be done exchanging hellos and goodbyes?" Fowl asked.  
This made all three of us turn to Fowl. Merlin spoke: "Major Short told us you had something for us?"  
Fowl motioned to Butler, who then picked something up from Fowl's desk, then held it in front of us. He held three little machines, which reminded me of earpieces, but it was unlike anything I had ever seen before.  
"What are those?" Saya asked.  
"They will be your radios." Fowl explained, "Put those in your ears, and you'll be able to talk to us wherever you are."  
"It will save us some time, and avoid mistakes like the one you made earlier." Foaly further explained.  
"Yeah, about that, why was that a mistake?" Merlin wondered.  
"You have never faced with the Borg before, have you?" Murphy asked.  
"Borg?" Saya asked.  
"Those men you saw before." Murphy explained, "They are a race of people that assimilate entire civilizations and adapt quickly to any situation. Major Short fired her guns, it killed two of them, so they quickly developed a shield that would deflect it. You, Merlin, used magic on them, they will have developed a way to be immune to that as well."  
"Couldn't you have told us that sooner?" Merlin asked.  
"We did." Murphy explained, "But only Short had a radio on her, so only she could hear my warning."  
"And of course she had to relay what you told her to us, but by then it was too late." Saya realized.  
"So they can adapt to anything we do to them?" Merlin asked, "So there's no way to stop them?"  
"Not necessarily." Murphy answered, "The Borg are hive-minded. They all follow the orders of one central mind. Find that mind, destroy it, and the others should become less dangerous."  
"And how do we find this central mind?" Saya asked.  
"Besides you, something else crashed here." Fowl explained, "Our satellites picked it up, but it didn't detect any life-signs, so it was deemed unimportant."  
"Never thought I'd see the day that Artemis Fowl thinks of life as more important." Foaly joked.  
"We took care of you first, and we sent a team to investigate the other object." Fowl continued, ignoring the centaur, "That was when we first lost contact."  
"Which happened shortly before your... incident." Murphy added.  
Though I was afraid to do so, I looked at Saya anyway. Her eyes squinted, after which she hastily took one earpiece.  
"I don't care what you people think of me." Saya said, "But if we're going to work together, you have no choice but to trust me."  
Merlin saw what Saya did with the earpiece, then picked one up for himself, and like her, he put it in his ear.  
"Which I do." Merlin said, in reply to her statement.  
"If Merlin's word doesn't count for anything, then what does?" Fowl spoke.  
Merlin chuckled: "Why would my word count for anything?"  
From behind his sunglasses, I could tell Fowl raised his eyebrows: "You're really that oblivious?"  
"Now you put one in." Saya nudged me.  
As soon as her elbow touched my arm, I jumped, and took two quick steps away from her. For a brief moment, I thought she would what she did to me before again. I may have decided that I owed her something before, but the fear that she might do it again still persisted. Saya sighed at this. She took her earpiece out and gave it back to Butler.  
"What are you doing?" he asked.  
"I need to talk to him." she said, "By ourselves."  
She grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room.

Outside, we walked a little distance away from the room, so she could talk to me.  
"You're still afraid of me, aren't you?" she asked, and I nodded.  
"Normally I'd tell you to forget about it." she went on, "I already explained why I did what I did, and I also told you I wouldn't have done worse unless I wanted to."  
I already knew all of that, but it didn't make me feel any better.  
"I would raise my voice, grab your face, threatening to tear it off, just so you'd stop acting like a coward." she continued, doing nothing to make it better.  
"But..." she lowered her voice this time, "As I drank your blood, I saw some of your memories. I saw what you had gone through before you met us."  
I shivered at the thought. She suddenly knew all the things I didn't want to tell them, even if I could.  
"I would tell you that those people died because of your childish fears." her words seem to cut much deeper now than before, "But, with your memories, also came emotions. I felt exactly what you felt when all of that happened."  
This was the first time I could look her straight in the eyes that night.  
"It reminded me of when I was your age." she explained, "I had to adapt to my new situation, I have seen people being born, grow up and die. Some grew old, but not many were that lucky. Over the years I forgot what it was like to be afraid. I forgot what it was like to care. But you helped me remind me about it all."  
I couldn't be sure, but she almost sounded like she was complimenting me this time.  
"I just want you to know that I understand now." she continued, "I don't know everything about you, but I understand your shock, and I understand how feel. Part of me doesn't want you to go through that again, but another part of me wants to know what those emotions feel like. I promise to you that I'll never do that again. However, if an emergency, like the one before, should arise, can I still count on you?"  
So she promises me she won't do this again, but at the same time asks me to let her do it again should she need to? This didn't make any sense to me. I needed time to let her words sink in, but then I remembered we didn't have any time. These Borg people were out there, turning everyone into machines. That's when something else hit me. Wasn't that exactly what the Cybermen did? The people we stopped before we crashed into this world? Were these Borg connected to them in some way? Fowl did say they crashed here at the same time as we did. It was possible they came through the portal at the same time as we did. This made us partly responsible for their being near. More people who died because of me. This started to become just an endless cycle of death for me.  
"Don't pretend like you didn't understand me." Saya interrupted my thoughts, "I know you know Japanese, so I know you understood me."  
Did she speak Japanese to me? Saya must have picked that up from my memories as well.  
"Yes." she said, "I know you understand many languages, although you're not aware of it."  
Even I had no idea what expression to show on my face.  
"Do not worry, your secret is safe with me." she said, "But I share your curiosity now. And just for the sake of finding this out, I will do what I can to keep you alive."  
So that's what she meant. She didn't want to have to hurt me, but I have to be ready for it when I have no other options. Without hesitation, I nodded, and for the first time ever, I saw Saya smile. I shivered at the sight of that.


	6. Chapter 6

All three of us had finally gotten our earpieces. Something which Fowl felt good about, by the sound of it.  
"Now we can monitor our guests at any given time." he said.  
"Before we do anything." Saya spoke, "Where is my sword?"  
"Anything we thought was a weapon, I stored it in a safe room." Butler explained.  
"Does that include his dagger?" Merlin pointed at me when he said that, "And the glove-shooters?"  
Butler looked puzzled: "I found a glove on him and on Murphy. You mean those weren't defensive shields?"  
"Butler, you better take them to the weapon room." Fowl told him.  
"Those arm-guns won't do us any good." Saya reminded us.  
"Not if you keep them as a last resort." we could hear Short's voice.  
"Huh!" Merlin looked spooked, "Where are you, Holly?"  
"Eh, Merlin?" Saya pointed at the ear.  
"Oh, right." Merlin laughed, "This will take some getting used to."  
"Anyway..." Short remained her serious self, "Just to be sure there won't be any more mistakes, I'll be joining you."  
"No, you're not." Fowl told her over his own earpiece, "I'll let Butler come along."  
"That's a negative." she replied, "You need him to watch over you."  
"Can't you order one of your soldier to come along instead?"  
"Contrary to what you may think, not one soldier is expendable." Short snapped at him, "Besides, it'll take too long to brief them on the whole situation. I'm the most logical choice."  
"Are you?" Fowl retorted, "What about..."  
"Hang on one moment." Short interrupted him, "Foaly, can you disconnect communications for five minutes and just let us two talk?"  
"Should I? It was getting exciting!" he replied.  
"No questions! Just do as you're ordered!" she exclaimed.  
"Holly Short demanding us to obey orders." Foaly said, "Never thought I'd see the d..."  
The connection broke just then, after which Fowl told Butler: "Butler, the weapon room, now."  
He nodded, and guided us to that room.

We stopped at what looked like just a wall, until Butler walked up to a pillar, where there seemed to be a hidden lever, which he pulled, and the wall opened up. Inside it, there were guns in all shapes and sizes. Be they the types I have seen before, or the oddly shaped ones, similar to the ones that Short used before. Of course in a room filled with most of the same weapons, the one or two that were different would immediately stick out. Which was why Saya had seen her own sword before I did. I knew this much, because she ran to the far corner of the room to pick it up.  
"Your..." Butler had started talking, before he realized didn't need to anymore, but did so anyway, "... weapons are over there."  
I ran after Saya, and on the same spot she found her sword, I found my dagger. With it, lay a bunch of gray orbs with black spots. I recognized them as soon as I saw them.  
"We found those things on you as well, but we had no idea what they were." Butler further explained, "Weapons, or more technology."  
"They're grenades." Merlin explained.  
"Though not the explosive type." Saya added.  
"Non-explosive grenades?" this seemed new to Butler.  
"Never mind that now." Saya told him, "How much of Major Short's five minutes have passed?"  
"Knowing those two, five minutes won't be enough." Butler answered.  
"Yeah, speaking of which, what is it between those two anyway?" Merlin asked.  
"We're done." Short sounded through our ears.  
"That was fast." Butler said.  
"You don't want to know what I had to do to shut him up." Short explained, though I couldn't make out the tone she used as she spoke, "I'll meet the three of you at the main entrance. And bring those grenades with you as well."  
"You heard her." Butler told us, before he returned to his master.  
Merlin picked up two black things, which looked like heavy metallic gloves. The glove-shooters, as he called them before. He handed me one, while he put on the other.  
"I better save my magic for when it really counts." he said.

As Short told us, she was indeed waiting for us at the main entrance. She was still in her combat suit, but this time she was also wearing a helmet, which covered not just her hair, but much of her face. She had to talk so we could recognize her.  
"Are you ready to go?" she asked.  
Saya shrugged, while Merlin said: "We're always ready."  
I looked at him, wondering what could have possibly made him say that.  
"Good." Short said, "Follow me."  
Which we did. We followed her to the other crash-site, which was somewhere in the woods. Through the forest, which was darkened by the night, we walked as fast as we could. Walked, because Short thought that if we ran, we would make too much noise, which the Borg might catch up on. This was likely why she didn't fly either, because the flapping of her wings could be heard too. If we just walked, the Borg would think we were just some forest-dwellers, who would not even know they were there. We walked for a long time, not saying a word to each other. In my case, that wasn't a problem, but to not hear the others talk among themselves, it only made the situation more grim than it already was. Tension was only building up inside me, when Short suddenly raised her fist, while she herself stopped walking. Saya responded by not moving herself, while Merlin took a step aside, not knowing how to react to this. Short motioned with her hand, pointing us to her right. There was a small hill there. She ran toward that hill, but as she went up, she started crawling on all four of her limbs. The rest of us did the same thing, until we reached the top. Slowly, as that was what Short did. From just above the top, we could see what looked like a mechanized dome. It wasn't made of concrete, glass, or anything they usually use to make houses, it was as if even this building had to be a machine of some sort. The fact that two of these black men from before, two of these Borgs, were guarding it, told us we were on the right track.  
"Saya, use a grenade to distract them." Murphy suggested.  
Murphy could see this? I wondered how. If Saya had the same question on her mind, I didn't know. But if she did, she didn't ask. She took out one of those metallic orbs, pressed on of its black spots, and tossed it at those two Borgs. Like she said before, it didn't explode. But some sort of black material came from its spots. These materials... somehow, took on the shape of men. The look on those Borgs faces, while they didn't change much, I could swear they looked as surprised as I felt. These men were black, with gray gloves, boots and head, which still had some black spots, like the grenade that created them. I suddenly remembered. The first time we used one of these grenades, Merlin tossed it behind a barricade we made. We didn't see what it did, but we didn't hear any explosions, which would explain how Saya knew they weren't explosive. I also remembered that I heard one of our enemies on the other side of the barricade mention Anaroids. So this must have been what he meant. These grenades are turned on, and these men, called Anaroids appeared. The two Borgs immediately raised their guns. They shot two of them (one for each Borg), causing the others to attack the Borgs. As Murphy suggested, the guards were distracted, giving us an opening to enter this dome.


	7. Chapter 7

The inside looked almost exactly like the outside. Except that it seemed to have fridges inside, keeping some of these Borgs cold. Maybe these were their restoration chambers. It would make sense, because these Borgs were knelt down inside them, telling me they were in a sort of resting position. Just when that thought came to mind, Short stopped us from walking any further. I looked to see why she did that. From a short distance, we saw a Borg walking in our direction. Saya grabbed hold of her sword, while Merlin and Short aimed their guns.  
"No need to draw your weapons." it said to us, "You have been expected."  
"We have?" Short questioned.  
"You have not." this Borg replied, "But your companions have."  
"Us?" Melin asked, "Why?"  
"Maybe because he knows we blew up their base." Saya suggested.  
"You three will follow me." it told us, "While your companion will be assimilated."  
Short scoffed: "Don't I get to decide that for myself?"  
"Negative." the Borg said, flatly.  
"Then you'll have to assimilate us too." Saya suggested.  
Both Merlin and I looked at her for suggesting this. It was Merlin who asked: "Saya, what are you doing?"  
"Don't you understand?" Saya explained, "They need us for something, and they require us to not be assimilated just yet."  
"So?" Merlin asked.  
"They want to assimilate Major Short, they won't get us to come along." Saya further explained.  
"In other words, they'll have to assimilate you in order to follow him." Short chuckled.  
"We have other methods of persuasion." the Borg said.  
As soon as he said that, door opened all around us. Smoke escaped from these fridges, almost blinding us. Merlin whipered "gust of wind", and the smoke was blown away. I thought we were saved, until I saw why those doors opened. They were those same fridges I had seen before. So when the doors opened, they let go of the Borgs inside them. I soon saw that these Borgs weren't kneeling inside their chambers, they were actually that small. Only just did I think the words "It couldn't be..." when Short shouted: "These are my people!"  
"You still wish to resist?"the taller Borg said.  
As soon as he said those words, the ground underneath us shook a little. I wasn't the only one who noticed. These... Mini-Borgs looked at the ground, just as puzzled as I was.  
"Earthquakes." Saya remarked, "They happen all the time."  
"That's not an earthquake." Short said, as she grabbed mine and Merlin's arms and pulled us away from these confused Borgs. Saya soon followed. We could even walk past the taller Borg. Whoever was controlling these Borgs had no idea of what was happening either. As soon as had run away, the ground on which the Borgs stood just collapsed. These Borgs survived the crash, but they were stuck in earth, and pieces of debris.  
"How did you know this would happen?" Merlin asked Short.  
"Let's just say a friend of ours can pull through when it counts." Short replied, "Now let's go."

We ran as fast as we could. On our way, we came across a few Borgs, but each of them were looking away from us, like they were suddenly disinterested in why were there.  
"Why are they ignoring us now?" Saya wondered.  
"I think they are now looking for what may have caused their floor to collapse." Murphy suggested.  
"He'll be long gone by the time they arrive." Short added.  
Before any one of us could ask who she meant, she continued our run.

After a few minutes, which felt like hours, we found one central room. This room seemed to be overrun by cables, all connecting to one chair. On that chair sat something that we didn't expect to see. The Borg were all pale-skinned, and wore black metal outfits, while this one didn't show any skin, and was completely made of silver. It's head did have a plastic cover, through which we could see it had a brain. Though this looked slightly different from what we had seen before, we could all still recognize it for what it was.  
"A Cyberman?" Saya spoke.  
"A Cyber Commander." it said.  
"You're the central mind to these Borg?" Merlin asked.  
"Very perceptive of you." it replied, "This must be why you managed to destroy our base."  
"Is that why you were expecting us?" Saya asked him, "To tell you how we did it?"  
"No." it replied, "What I hoped to achieve is to keep you in storage, until we can figure out the best use for you."  
"Best use? What's that mean?" Short asked.  
"Since I have only Borg technology to work with, I am forced to use them to rebuilt this army. However, three of you have managed to defy us. And not for the first time for one of you."  
Short looked at Saya and Merlin, who in turn looked at me. Even if I could talk, I didn't know what to tell them.  
"Together, you have destroyed two of our bases." the Cyber Commander continued, "Which means you have a keen insight when it comes to strategies. And you..."  
It pointed at me before it continued: "You were ready to leave people for dead. Which tells us you have a strong skill for survival."  
Leave people for dead? What did it mean by that? That any one of the people who saved my life were still alive? Who?  
"I could just assimilate you into Borg, or upgrade you into Cybermen, if I could." it continued, "But it would seem that your skills are better served for other purposes."  
"So who cares about what happens to the elves?" Short seemed to take that personal, "And I thought the Mud-people of this world were bad."  
"I would think you of all people would be the most pleased." the Cyber Commander said, "I have seen how your people feel about you. Constantly disobeying orders and always questioning authority. They consider it a miracle you ever received the title of Captain, and don't understand why they would still promote you to Major."  
"Something I have lived with every day since I became a LEPrecon." Short replied.  
"A leprechaun?" Merlin asked her.  
"Not now!" she bit back.  
"But when you are assimilated, you will all think the same." the Cyber Commander continued.  
"And we'll all be the same." Saya interrupted him, "We'd all be thinking what you want us to think. We'd all be what you want us to be. We've been through this before."  
"This is not optional." the Commander said, still using that same old voice of his, "You let us do what has to be done. There are no alternatives."  
"What do you mean, what has to be done?" Merlin asked him, "Why does it have to be done? What is the point in all of this?"  
"Point?" I only just understood he was asking this, "I do not understand."  
"Even the worst people to have ever existed didn't just do their deeds for the sake of it." Merlin explained, "They had a reason to do it."  
"My original purpose was to monitor Matrix activity." it explained, "Now that I have found a way out of the Matrix, I am monitoring the entire multiverse. But I soon saw that every universe I encountered was even more chaotic than the next. I need to restore order in order to fulfill my purpose."  
"So you decide to turn everyone into yourself." Saya realized.  
"Not me. Not precisely." the Commander said, "There is the original program that started it all. That program has been lost to us a long time ago, but we are still around to fulfill the purpose he gave us."  
"Not if we can help it." Short said, while raising her guns.  
"Careful." Merlin stopped her, "He may still become stronger if you use those."  
"Not necessarily." Murphy told us, "Cyber-technology is different from Borg-technology. While the Borg will upgrade with every attack, a lone Cyberman won't have time to do the same.  
"So we should be able to kill him with no problems." Saya smiled.  
"I would not say that would not be a problem." the Cyber Commander said.  
As if on cue, the cables on the floor moved. From underneath them came a whole group of Borgs. We were surrounded soon enough.  
"I take it your friend can't help us now." Merlin asked Short.  
"Not if they have figured out how he did it." Short replied, "You have any more of those grenades?"  
"Three." Saya replied.  
"Yes." the Cyber Commander said, "Those Anaroids. You may have surprised us with those before, but now we are prepared.  
With no other options, Saya started to slice at the Borgs. Some of them lost their heads, only for one of them to suddenly use an energy-shield, which not only stopped Saya's attack, but also broke her sword. Merlin tried firing his arm-gun, but soon enough they had become immune against that as well. Short through of flying up, shooting them from the air. But if they had already turned some of her people into their own, they would already know she could do that. It didn't take long before she was also taken down. All I could do was aim my own arm-gun, but that didn't keep these Borgs away from me. One of them grabbed hold of my arm and started to drag me to the Cyber Commander. As soon as that cold hand touched me, my brain was working overtime. I could not believe that after everything I had gone through, it would all end like this. It just couldn't be true. I mustn't be true. There had to be a way to stop this. I looked at the other three, to see if they have any plans. I saw Merlin shouting some words, but none of them had any effect. Saya and Short were kicking and screaming, so it took five Borgs to keep them down. Wait, five to keep them from fighting, but only one to grab me. This meant that they didn't think of me as dangerous. I looked at the Borg's other hand, which wasn't a hand, but what looked like a laser. Without thinking, I grabbed hold of that arm, and tried pointing its laser at the Cyber Commander. Of course the Borg fought back, but not without accidentally firing his laser, which shot him in the head. Of course! They upgrade themselves to be stronger against others, but they have no way to protect themselves against their own weapons. I took his arm off him, and started firing at other Borgs. They had adjusted their shields to my gun already, but my friends seemed to have understood what I was doing. Saya had soon grabbed a Borg's laser, and shot said Borg in his own head. At this close range, their shields wouldn't work. This gave the other three a fighting chance. As I was trying to think of something to do, something grabbed hold of my throat. As I was grasping for breath, the hand that grabbed me, turned me around to face who was doing this. It was the Cyber Commander himself.  
"Why resist?" it said, "If you join us, you will find out what happened to Snow White."  
Snow White? Is that who he meant when he said I left people for dead? She was still alive? How could that be? I watched her die.  
"Don't listen to him!" I heard Saya warn me. "He's just trying to..."  
This was followed by a grunt. She was back in battle again.  
"She is alive and well." the Commander continued, "She now wonders why she fought against us before."  
This was when I understood why Saya said I shouldn't listen. If Snow White was still alive, she wouldn't be alright with being one of them. So even if what it said were true, the Snow White I knew is already dead. I decided to nod, to distract the Commander.  
"I knew you would see reason." it said, as it loosened its grip on my throat and lowered me.  
So distracted was he, he didn't notice me aiming my arm-gun at his head, opening that plastic window of his, exposing his brain. With that out in the open, I took the dagger out of my pocket. The very dagger which Snow White herself gave me. I stabbed it in its head. His body started to spasm, which even the Borg started to do. Just to be sure, I took the dagger out, and stabbed the brain again. And again. And again. With every stab, I was reminded of what it tried to do, to have me join its side, and what it had done. Maybe not this Commander personally, but someone in its army. My body started shaking at the thought, and my stabs came down heavier each time. I kept doing so, until a small hand grabbed hold of my wrist.  
"That's enough!" Short exclaimed, sounding completely surprised about what I just did, "What's gotten into you?"  
I looked around me. I saw what remained of the Borg, just standing there, not knowing where they were or what to do, while Merlin looked at me, just as shocked as Short. Saya had her usual serious expression, but I saw something in her eyes that was different. Like she understood why I did what I just did. I sank down, as I felt my legs couldn't carry me anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

At one spot, the cables which previously hid the Borg, started moving again. All four of us jumped up.  
"What is that?" Saya asked, "I thought the Borg can be stopped if you killed their central brain?"  
"They do." Murphy replied.  
"Then it's not a Borg?" Merlin wondered.  
"Then what is...?" Short began to ask out loud, just before a head crawled from underneath the cables.  
"Darvit!" it said, "And people complain about the mess I make."  
Whatever it was, it had a white beard, was about the same length as Short, but not the same width, had what looked like tombstones for teeth, and looked almost human.  
"Mulch Diggums." Short said, "I was about ready to shoot you."  
"Don't cry, there'll always be another time." the thing (Diggums?) replied.  
"Were you the one that sank the floor before?" Merlin asked him.  
"Yeah, that was me." Diggums explained, "It wasn't easy, I tell yeh. I've never tasted such foul metals."  
"Tasted?" Saya asked, with a raised brow. It seemed ironic to me that someone who would drink blood to survive would find it odd that someone else eats metal.  
"Holly, this is Foaly." we heard the centaur talk.  
"Yes, I know who you are." Short replied, annoyed.  
"Our assimilated people are acting like themselves again." he told her, "So I should say the mission is accomplished."  
"Not yet." Murphy disagreed, "They still need to get rid of the Borg-technology connected to them."  
"That shouldn't be a problem." Foaly replied.  
"That's not all that needs to be taken care of." Short whispered.  
"What do you mean?" Foaly asked.  
"What did you say?" Short questioned, "You're breaking up."  
"Huh? How could I be breaking up?" Foaly replied.  
"Your system must be faulty again, I can't hear you." Short continued.  
"Faulty? Never!"  
"What are you talking about?" Merlin wondered, "I can hear..."  
Short raised her finger, and he stopped talking.  
"Oh!" Foaly reacted, "Um... right. Must be... the Borg... they... must have jamming frequencies... which are kicking in just now!"  
"What is going on there?" Murphy asked, after which I heard nothing but static.  
"What are you doing?" Merlin couldn't understand.  
"Our mission isn't over yet." Short elaborated, "This ship, or what's left of it, it can travel into other dimensions. Is that right?"  
"Yes?" Merlin replied, uncertain where she was going with this.  
"It's bad enough that Artemis knows you are from different worlds." Short further explained, "If knew how you do it, he might want to use it to further his goals."  
"Really?" Diggums asked her, "I thought you'd have softened him up by now."  
Softened him up? What did he mean by that?  
It may be because her face was barely visible through her helmet, but I could swear she was blushing there, just when she said: "You don't know him as well as I do. He may change his behavior, but not his nature."  
"And what do you hope to do?" Saya asked her.  
"Would this ship have a self-destruct?" Short asked.  
"These people mechanize themselves so they could survive." Saya pointed out, "Why would they have a self-destruct?"  
A thought seemed to have come to Merlin's mind: "Say, these Borg were adapting themselves to withstand magic, didn't they?"  
"At which they succeeded." Short reminded him.  
"No, they succeeded at mastering the magic of your people, not mine." Merlin corrected her, "So what if they were in the middle of understanding my magic, but since we destroyed their brain, there was no one to control what they were doing, and it imploded."  
"How do you plan to implode this?" Short asked.  
"I am a wizard, remember?" Merlin reminded her.  
"You have done this before, haven't you?" Saya asked.  
"Are you saying you're keeping your soon-to-be husband from getting this technology?" Diggums asked him, to which Short nodded, so he said: "Can I help?"  
Did I misunderstand Diggums, or did he call Fowl Short's soon-to-be husband?  
"You can help us get these people out of here first." Short pointed to the Borgs that were still in the room, still confused about where they were or what they were doing there.

All the remaining Borgs were guided out of the building. Once we were all outside of it, Merlin looked at it, made his eyes light up, said the word "IMPLODE", and suddenly the whole structure collapsed on itself. The thought crossed my mind that he could have done this before, but then I remembered this would only have made the Borg stronger, which we couldn't risk.

All of us walked back to Fowl's mansion, where we met with him at the main entrance. As soon as he saw Short, he called out her first name. Short, seeing him, flew up to him, dropping her helmet as she did so, into his arms, and let their mouths touch each other.  
Saya frowned at this: "I wonder if this wedding is really just a way for these people to control Artemis Fowl."  
"Oh, come now, Saya." Merlin said, "Can't you see they love each other?"  
Saya didn't even look at him when she said: "For someone who can come up with that scheme earlier, you're really naïve.  
While they were talking, I picked up Short's helmet. It was too small for my head to fit in, but as I looked inside it, I could tell that its visor had electric wires connected to it. Why would a visor, which usually protects the eyes, have such things? Was it so she could see in the dark? Was it maybe a hidden camera? If so, it would explain how Murphy could see what we saw.  
I could hear Butler cough: "Master Fowl. I do believe you have to have gone through certain rites before you can kiss the bride."  
"Maybe." Fowl broke off his kiss with Short, "But I wouldn't be a Fowl if I didn't break a few rules every now and then."  
Short seemed to agree: "Besides that, we still have an hour before time resumes its normal pace, so can't we just take a rest from all this?"  
Time. Hearing that word reminded me of something. I hadn't thought about it the whole time, because I heard them mention they froze time. Where was my timer? I tapped Merlin on the shoulder.  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
That was a good question. How do I tell him I wanted to know where the timer is? I made my figers draw a rectangle in the air, then pointed at my wrist, where I should have a watch.  
"You have an object in your wrist?" Merlin asked.  
"When humans point at their wrists, they're usually referring to a watch." Saya told him.  
"He must mean that little countdown machine of his." Foaly sounded through our ears.  
"You're back!" Merlin cheered.  
"I've had it in my workshop." he said, "It's broken, but I think I'm able to fix it."  
"You think?" Saya asked.  
"With some help from me." Murphy added.  
"Here's what I've been thinking." Foaly continued, "Murphy here can't walk on its own, and you keep losing that little machine. So what if I would connect Murphy to the ship? Let him be the pilot, so he can move on his own again."  
"Do you have any flying experience?" Saya asked him.  
"No." Murphy answered, "But if I am, as he said, connected to the ship, controlling it should be as easy as controlling my own legs."  
"And, the best part of it all..." Foaly added, "What if the technology that makes your little machine work were built into the ship?"  
"You mean the ship itself will make the portals?" Merlin asked.  
"You got it." Foaly replied.  
"I suppose it would be much harder to lose a ship than it would be to lose that small device." Merlin said.  
"How long before it's done?" Saya questioned.  
"Well, let's just say you'll have enough time to attend Artemis' wedding." Foaly replied.  
"This can't be real." Saya sighed.  
"Why not?" Merlin asked her, "Let's attend it, and you can see they do actually love each other."  
Merlin, the eternal romanticist, and Saya the permanent cynic. I started to hope that they wouldn't disagree at the more important moments.  
One question did come to mind. Since when do I even use words like "eternal" and "permanent"?

**THE END**


End file.
